Sammantha Holder

I am interested in how social structures and agency interact to shape human biology in the past. My dissertation research integrates practice theory, embodiment, and structural violence to examine how military service produced Napoleonic soldier and civilian bodies. To address the embodiment of miitary rationing and soldier foraging strategies, I reconstruct changes in diet and nutrition over the life course. The primary methodologies I employ to reconstruct diet are stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of bone collagen and carbonate and individual amino acids in bone collagen. 

In addition to my dissertation research, I work as an osteologist with the Dayr al-Barsha Project in Egypt where I examine human skeletal remains from Old Kingdom/1st Intermediate, Middle Kingdom, and Roman period cemeteries. This work focuses on reconstructing the health and lifeways of ancient Egyptians.

Lastly, I am interested in pedagogy and mentorship in the university setting. As part of UGA's Interdisciplinary Certificate in University Teaching, I am working with my advisor, Dr. Laurie Reitsema, on a project that utilizes writing in the disciplines pedagogy to teach undergraduate students about different approaches to bioarchaeology and its potential to contribute to contemporary social issues. We are currently guest editing a special issue of UGA's peer-reviewed undergraduate journal, The Classic Journal. As the Anthropology Graduate Student Organization's (AGSO) Mentor Program Coordinator, I am working with Graduate Coordinator, Dr. Susan Tanner to develop and evaluate a peer mentoring program for first-year graduate students in the Department of Anthropology.